Earthquakes and Volcano Eruption on Hawaii's Big Island

posted by Kat -
May 4, 2018

To say that the residents of Hawaii’s Big Island Authorities on edge is an understatement. Officials are urging calm, but ordering also mandatory evacuations after an eruption of the Kilauea volcano. Approximately 10-thousand people are potentially in harm's way.

Apparently, lava has already reached the community of Leilani Estates. But that’s not how their day started – the area was already on high alert after a flurry of earthquakes in recent days, including a 5.0-magnitude quake yesterday morning.

The temblor struck at 10:30am local time and was centered under the south flank of Kilauea [[kill a WAY uh]]. Seismic activity in the Puna area has been very high lately, and authorities had been urging residents to prepare for a possible eruption, which could come with "very little warning." Now that “possibility” has come to fruition, the National Guard has been called in to assist.

As part of this, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory reports some rockfalls and a possible collapse of the Puu Oo crater, but no other big changes at the volcano. A big plume of red ash and smoke reportedly billowed into the air. The quake was the largest of hundreds of temblors that have shaken Kilauea's east rift zone in the past few days.